In The Mix – Weekly Breakfast Schedule

Children benefit from reliable routines. Preschoolers use events, like meals, to establish initial concepts of time. Kids need structure. Any of this psycho-babble sound familiar? Yeah, me too.

If I’m being honest, there is some truth to it all. Little people are creatures of habit, especially when it comes to food. That can be a gift and a curse. The gift is that you can get away with serving them as many hot dogs and chicken tenders as your heart (and their stomachs) can stand. The curse is that you can never, never, EVER deviate from the plan. Ever had such a busy Saturday that you skipped lunch and went straight to dinner? Don’t worry, I won’t judge you or accuse you of neglecting your children.

Yeah, me neither.

Hypothetically, if that were to happen, there would be hell to pay.

Little Person (LP): “But Mommy! That wasn’t dinner. That was lunch!”

Me: “That WAS dinner, sweetheart. We were really busy and missed lunch.”

LP: “But how can this be dinner if we didn’t have lunch?!?!”

Me: “Fine, call it lunch. But you’re still taking a bath and going to bed right now.”

Can you tell I’ve been through this before? Haven’t you?

Yeah, me neither.

Another ritual in my house is the “What are we having?’ game. That question is a thorn in my side. It’s like fingernails on a chalk board. Every morning, like clockwork, PJ would gallop into our bedroom with that dreaded question. I decided, while I may not be able to avoid the interrogation at dinner time, I could a least have more peaceful mornings with a breakfast schedule. A few minutes at the computer creating this simple schedule has drastically improved mornings in the Townes residence. Each day displays a different breakfast meal. I used pictures, instead of words, for my little pre-readers. It’s even become a cool way to teach them the days of the week. In order for them to know what they’re having for breakfast, they have to know what day it is. And do you want to know the best part? Magically, your shopping list for breakfast items is automatically done because you always know what to buy. It doesn’t get any better than that.

Get the kids involved by letting them find pictures of their favorite breakfast meals in magazines. You can help them cut them out and arrange the meals in any order on the schedule. Have fun with it. Get creative. I found some images online and added them to the schedule. Every once in a while, I swap out an item to add some variety.